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Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

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Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#11

Post by eddieroger »

WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

> Ditch BlackBerry OS, install Android (with their custom BES encryption used in the enterprise [2])

I'm confident if someone would come in to the Android world and do an enterprise-focused build that can have support sold, they'd kill the market in a good way - like what RedHad did for Linux. A very closely-forked branch that is never more than a few months behind AOSP, but had all the reliability and security of what BlackBerry used to provide would be amazing.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#12

Post by rcfox »

ams6110 wrote: post #9
pedalpete wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming somebody else will pick up QNX, or it will be split off into it's own company. I don't think most people realise the value of QNX, maybe not as a phone OS, but in running so many other devices. Interestingly, RIM doesn't say how much revenue QNX makes for the company. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/05/the-little-known-comp...

I'm guessing that QNX will soon face a run for its money as iOS and/or Android start seeing use in devices besides phones and tablets. A common UI experience from phone to tablet to automobile controls/navigation would be something consumers would appreciate.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that iOS and Android will never be running nuclear reactors.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#13

Post by nahname »

WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

> 6) No Accountability – Canadians are too nice

As a Canadian that has worked outside the country, I seriously wonder if this isn't the biggest fault of Canadian companies. This alone could be the reason RIM failed.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#14

Post by rdtsc »

eddieroger wrote: post #11
WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

> Ditch BlackBerry OS, install Android (with their custom BES encryption used in the enterprise [2]) I'm confident if someone would come in to the Android world and do an enterprise-focused build that can have support sold, they'd kill the market in a good way - like what RedHad did for Linux. A very closely-forked branch that is never more than a few months behind AOSP, but had all the reliability and security of wh…

Samsung is trying to corner that market with Knox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Knox

Android also started to include and adopt patches from SEAndroid project from NSA (I realize saying it after the leaks now would make some shake their heads disapprovingly).

Knox + SEAndroid patches is basically starting to move in the direction of cornering the enterprise mobile market.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#15

Post by porsupah »

wslh wrote: post #6
WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

I am sad because of QNX, not BB. I don't know what's the future of QNX if BB decides to follow the Android or Windows 8 route.

Indeed so. I once worked on a digital delivery system for broadcast radio, able to perform as anything from virtual cart heads through to (sadly) completely automating it, switching between local playlists and sat feeds as required.

It ran under QNX/Photon. It never, ever crashed; QNX's reputation for reliability is well earned.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#16

Post by TheLegace »

nahname wrote: post #13
WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

> 6) No Accountability – Canadians are too nice As a Canadian that has worked outside the country, I seriously wonder if this isn't the biggest fault of Canadian companies. This alone could be the reason RIM failed.

They also do a lot of hiring of interns from universities. Namely the one I go to, and unfortunately I know some of them and they are terrible engineers. I don't know how much that could hurt the company, but it has to cost them something. Even though they get tax breaks for those interns.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#17

Post by porsupah »

programminggeek wrote: post #7

One of the funniest/saddest parts of how RIM treated developers was that initially there was something like a $250 fee to get into their developer program, and then you only got something like 5 app submissions/updates. You then had to pay for more submissions/updates. I believe they suspended this policy around the time they launched the BB Playbook, but compared to distributing through Google Play or the Apple App…

And then there was the wonderfully.. "hand crafted" touch, shall we say. Order your keys to develop for them, and:

== Your BlackBerry JDE Signature key order has been received and will be processed shortly. It could take up to 10 business days to fully process your order. You will receive a confirmation email prior to your signature keys being issued. If you require further assistance with regards to your order, please email devsupport@rim.com, providing your Company Name, Name, Email Address and Date/Time of your order. ==

Yes, that's 10 business days to get underway.

(At the time - 2011 - I recall their app store could only be browsed under Windows, thanks to a fundamental reliance on DirectX components. This struck me as a little odd)

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#18

Post by pedalpete »

ams6110 wrote: post #9
pedalpete wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming somebody else will pick up QNX, or it will be split off into it's own company. I don't think most people realise the value of QNX, maybe not as a phone OS, but in running so many other devices. Interestingly, RIM doesn't say how much revenue QNX makes for the company. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/05/the-little-known-comp...

I'm guessing that QNX will soon face a run for its money as iOS and/or Android start seeing use in devices besides phones and tablets. A common UI experience from phone to tablet to automobile controls/navigation would be something consumers would appreciate.

I think you're right for things that have moderately interesting interfaces, but do you really need android in your thermostat? Keychain? Other random device? Qnx in card isn't just your maps and stuff, it's your braking system, crash detection system, etc.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#19

Post by kjackson2012 »

WestCoastJustin wrote: post #2

> 4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us [1] Hindsight is 20/20, but this anonymous letter to RIM Senior Management Team, really nailed this point. The developer ecosystem, and the app for everything mind set, that Apple pretty much invented, and later emulated via Google with Android, is simply stunning. Personally, I think RIM should turn itself into mainly a hardware vendor, cut its losses, agree tha…

Ditching BBOS and using Android is exactly what SGI tried to do by ditching IRIX and going with Windows NT. It destroyed the company. Not that BBM has any hope at this point, but getting rid of BBOS is not the solution, because they will lose their current fans, and they will not migrate over any existing Android users.

Re: Anonymous RIM Employee Blasts Company in Open Letter (2011)

#20

Post by dgrant »

TheLegace wrote: post #16
nahname wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 6) No Accountability – Canadians are too nice As a Canadian that has worked outside the country, I seriously wonder if this isn't the biggest fault of Canadian companies. This alone could be the reason RIM failed.

They also do a lot of hiring of interns from universities. Namely the one I go to, and unfortunately I know some of them and they are terrible engineers. I don't know how much that could hurt the company, but it has to cost them something. Even though they get tax breaks for those interns.

Yep, RIM hires an abnormally high number of co-ops from Waterloo.
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